Lorain and municipal court sue over software shutdown

ELYRIA -- The city of Lorain and Lorain Municipal Court are suing computer software provider Henschen and Associates Inc. for shutting down the court's software system on Aug. 1 and Dec. 1 in breach of the agreement with the city.

The lawsuit alleges Henschen charged payments rates inconsistent with the hourly rates as outlined in the support agreement.

The city has had a contract with the company since 1998 and on Jan. 13, Bud Henschen sent a letter to the clerk of courts stating he heard the city had entered into a contract with AMCAD for use of their case management system. He wrote in the letter that granting AMCAD or other third parties access to the Henschen software or writing a conversion program "would be a breach of this contract and may result in action being taken to protect our products copyright and trade secrets."

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According to the lawsuit, on Feb. 8, Henschen sent a revised statement with work performed and the balance remaining from the support agreement. Then on Aug. 1, Henschen temporarily shutdown access to the software until the city and the court paid $20. Henschen sent a statement on Aug. 6 that showed any deductions from work. It also showed that the city and court paid $20 to regain access to the software. The city and courts moved for a shutdown of the system to Nov. 1

Henschen contacted the court by letter Sept. 27 and said he it was still using his services. He also told the court it should reconsider leaving the current agreement and remain on the system. He sent a nearly exact letter regarding the usage of the software the next day. On Nov. 6 Henschen sent a statement with the work performed and the remaining balance and shut down the software Dec. 1

On Dec. 3, the court was unable to gain access from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. The court gained access after being told that there was $2,478.50 left in the balance and that amount had to be paid to gain access, the lawsuit states.

According to the lawsuit, Henschen said that amount would need to be paid monthly. The clerk of courts made a purchase order in the amount of $5,000 in order to continue using the software in the future months prior to the AMCAD case management system being ready to be accessed.

The lawsuit states that the court could not process payments for fines or court costs and couldn't conduct business for two hours. Henschen has threatened to shut the system down Tuesday if the city and court does not pay $2,000. The city and court orders that Henschen be restricted from partially or wholly shutting down access to the software. The lawsuit states that the city and court is seeking $2,507.50 in damages.